At the end of last year, I decided that 2008 would be different. I had several goals: 1) start a new novel 2) work on my novel first thing every day, even if I had to get up an hour earlier 3) find or create paying work that I enjoyed more than what I was currently doing to earn a living 4) sell my detective series to another publisher By March 1, I had accomplished the three things I had control over—although not the way I expected to. January first, I began to outline my new Detective Jackson novel with working title, SECRETS TO DIE FOR. I began getting up at five o’clock to write for an hour before I went to work. At the time, I worked as an editor for an educational publisher, a demanding job that left me too mentally exhausted at the end of the day to feel creative enough to fill blank page after blank page (which is how a novel comes into existence). Next, I started sending out letters to agents, publishers, and writers, announcing my services as a fiction editor. And I contacted some corporate clients and magazines about nonfiction editing as well….

Last year, I set three goals. 1. Sell more books2. Lose weight3. Learn self discipline Well, to quote the always quotable Meatloaf, two outta three ain’t bad. I sold two more books and I lost the weight. So this year I’ve decided to tackle the whole self discipline thing. How hard can it be? It’s simply a matter of retraining my brain, right? (snicker chuckle snort)In order to lose the weight, I had to learn a bit of self discipline. And although I still believe Reeces Peanutbutter Cups and buttered popcorn deserve to have their own section on the food group pyramid, I no longer believe I’ll die if I don’t eat both of them every day. So, with the basic principal of “I’ve sort of done it before, so surely I can expand on it further”, I’ve set out to define the areas in which I need to increase my self discipline: 1. I write in fits and spurts, instead of every day. That has to change. 2. I have convinced myself that plotting is the curse of death and that winging it is the only way I can write. That has to change. 3. I tend to let…

Before the confetti settles, the champagne bottles are tossed into the recycling bin and the sound of fireworks dies away, talk turns to that time-honored New Years tradition… Resolutions. Or, as I prefer, setting goals. I love goal setting. I’m big on writing lists and color-coding is definitely my friend. There’s something so satisfying about making a plan, setting a goal, and then working through the steps to see it become a reality. Call me a control freak, but it’s the only way I feel like I have much say in this crazy roller coaster that is life. Isabel Santos, the heroine in my January Blaze, DOES SHE DARE? is exactly the same. She’s all about success and has not only a yearly goal list, but a five year, ten year and life goal list. Wow, even *I’m* not that obsessive. Then again, as goal focused as I am, even I wouldn’t write a Man Plan. But Isabel did. She based her plan on the hottest guy she’d ever known, listed her ultimate sexual fantasies, and created a set of rules to let her maintain control. This got me to thinking. My planning and goal setting bleeds into every aspect…